Does this sound vicious to you?

[Dogbiteboy]

A dog ran out of it’s driveway and bit my 12 year old 3 times. First left a slight red mark/bruise on the top of his thigh, second scuffed the skin on the back of his ankle and the third on his calf is shown in the photos. It is just one wound shown a couple of days apart.
The police have had a word with the owner but have put in their notes that the dog seemed placid and it didn’t seem to have been a vicious bite.

Yes it does. I have dogs and love dogs but that is awful.

Same here and I agree that doesn’t look like it was playing

I agree that's a nasty bite.

As for the police's comment - dogs can seem very placid in their own homes when out in public, things are very different. I hope the owner is told to keep her dog leashed and muzzled going forward.

What breed of dog is it? Is it a dog that could have done a lot of damage if it had intended to?

@girlmom21 my ds thinks it was a Labrador but isn’t sure. The owner had come out and shouted at him for walking past her house loudly.
@warmfluffytowels no the police haven’t given any kind of warnings, just had a chat. I suspect if the dog had bitten a toddler or old person the police response may have been different.

I think if a Labrador had meant to attack it would have done more damage - that's probably what the police have decided.

Although I'd go round and have words with the woman myself if she had a go at your child for no reason and let her dog bite 3 times!!!

Unfortunately, that tends to be the case. It's very rare that one relatively minor bite results in any kind of prosecution - it has to be either a very serious bite (that lands someone in hospital) or a number of bites from the same dog. It's really poor imo.

I hope your DS is okay.

@warmfluffytowels I am just amazed that a dog can do that to a child and nothing happens. I don’t particularly want her prosecuting and certainly don’t want anything to happen to the dog. I just feel like the owner should have had a warning or something.

[quote Dogbiteboy]@warmfluffytowels I am just amazed that a dog can do that to a child and nothing happens. I don’t particularly want her prosecuting and certainly don’t want anything to happen to the dog. I just feel like the owner should have had a warning or something.[/quote]
I suspect the chat will be noted and she'll have been told any further incidents will have consequences.

I agree with you that it's awful.

Dear me. I wouldn't be happy at all.

Dogs have to be in control in public. This wasn’t. Worth contacting the dog warden if the police are crap?

@Wolfiefan thanks for the suggestion, I’ll try the dog warden. If the owner had been sorry I’d have been less upset.

I’m upset for my son. He trusts the police and they should have done more.

He’s nervous around our own soft lump of a dog now

Poor kid. The owner was completely in the wrong. They must prevent their dog from escaping out of their property. We use a stairgate in the hall. Not that my dogs would bite. But if they are rushing out of the front door then they aren’t under control.

I think if it had meant it it would be a worse bite. But it certainly looks like a very nasty nip!

If the owner had been sorry I’d have been less upset.
^ This. She should have to apologise and put in place a better way of keeping her dog on her property.

That’s awful, I’d be beside myself if my dog did that to a child if her dog is reactive to children/loud noises it should be on lead or behind a gate away from people especially now and police should’ve advised that. Def speak to dog warden, you have to hope the next person isn’t too seriously hurt as once they have bitten once it’ll happen again.
Hope your son is ok, must’ve been very scary for him.

Did the dog leave their own property and attack your son on the street/pavement? That’s dangerous? I’m surprised by the police response. Isn’t there a requirement to keep dogs under control?

@MotionActivatedDog yes the dog came out of it’s driveway and bit my son on the street.

I’m afraid I’d be pushing for something stronger from the police than “seems placid”!!

God that's awful. Your poor DS I bet he was terrified!
I'd be absolutely fuming, I think I'd even see if I could make a claim, your DS will have a scar there probably for life now.
How irresponsible of the owner.

I would seek legal advice tbh.
The police response is beyond appalling, I know you have said you don’t want to but imo that dog is dangerous and needs putting down, I would be going further for sure.
Dogs should not be running out of driveways and biting people.
There is absolutely no excuse or justification for what happened.

@Powertothepetal I can't believe you're really suggesting a dog should be put down for such minor injuries.

The dog has been let down by its owner. Those bites aren't malicious.

Are we reading the same thread?

A dog ran out of its home, into the street, and bit, unprovoked, a young boy walking. Three times. Once hard enough to puncture the skin.

The dog is dangerous and I very much doubt this is the first time it has shown aggression and it will probably escalate and hospitalise someone eventually.

It’s no wonder there are so many horrendously behaved dogs out there.

@Powertothepetal the key element here is that the bite, while still an awful thing for the OP’s son to experience, is not a proper bite. A lab is easily able to cause much more damage than that.

It looks like a really, really nasty nip though.

I don’t disagree with you that more should happen in terms of punishment/restoration. But I wouldn’t immediately jump to killing the dog in this particular situation.

It does look nasty! Has your little one had a tetanus jab? If not, they made need one.

I'm a huge dog lover, probably obsessed! And have a spaniel, I would be utterly distraught if he did this to anyone let alone a child.

the key element here is that the bite, while still an awful thing for the OP’s son to experience, is not a proper bite. A lab is easily able to cause much more damage than that
I don’t dispute that but aggression in dogs tends to escalate over time.
That dog wouldn’t have been a perfectly friendly, sociable soul who suddenly ran out and bit someone unprovoked three times with minor/inhibited bites/nips.

There would have signs beforehand the dog was extremely territorial and/or disliked children.

The dog is very likely to bite again, and the next time the bite will probably be worse.

I don’t disagree with you that more should happen in terms of punishment/restoration. But I wouldn’t immediately jump to killing the dog in this particular situation
Why wait until the dog seriously injures someone?
We know the owner is incapable of controlling their dog, the fact they shouted at the innocent child and blamed them instead of being horrified and apologetic speaks volumes about the sort of owner they are.
They are unlikely to prevent this happening again.

We know the dog is extremely territorial or scared of children or both and we know that the dog is willing to show its discomfort by biting multiple times.

When the dog escalates and bites someone severely it won’t look good on the police that the dog had actually bitten before but it had been poo pooed because the bites was minor (this time) and the dog was friendly in its own home.